Jar City (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 1) [Paperback]

One of my major problems with many police procedurals is that the plots often go completely off the deep end and become wildly improbable messes (among Scandinavian authors, I think Henning Mankell is frequently guilty of this). So, it's somewhat refreshing to come across a relatively straightforward story like this award-winning series debut from Iceland. In it, we are introduced to Detective Inspector Erlendur, a classic 50ish, divorced, rumpled, morose, tactless, and running-to-seed character who nonetheless possesses the requisite instinct to be a top detective. Although he lacks some of the perfunctory traits often assigned to such characters (for example, he isn't a gourmand, or jazz aficionado, or anything like that), he's very much in the mold of Sejer, Rebus, Resnick, and other such policemen protagonists.

We meet Erlendur as he is called in to investigate the apparent murder of an elderly man in Reykjavik. It doesn't take long for the police to discover that the old man was a nasty character who had been accused of rape almost 40 years ago. With little to go on, other than the possibility that it was a random break-in gone wrong, Erlendur leads his team deep into the past, to try and uncover who might have had a motive for killing the old man. The further they dig, the more nasty secrets they uncover, and the more they must engage in very uncomfortable interviews that dredge up hidden pain. The plot and solution hinge on an aspect of Icelandic society that is rather unique, and it's nice to see the author taking advantage of this to good effect. Another subplot (which is rather extraneous) involves a runaway bride, and meanwhile, Erlendur must also try to deal with his drug addict daughter who flits in and out of his life. Their relationship is quite interesting, and possibly the most compelling reason to seek out the next book in the series (Silence of the Grave).

In terms of supporting characters, Erlendur's two main colleagues fail to leave much of an impression: there's the yuppie Sigurdur Óli, and Elínborg, whose main trait is that she's a woman. Hopefully they will be developed a good deal more in subsequent books, as will Erlendur's mysterious mentor Marion. Having been to Iceland for a few days several years ago, I certainly recognized the bleak weather and its constant presence in the lives of the characters. However, it would have been nice to get a little more description of Reykjavik, which is a very interesting looking place, and its people. There's not a lot of local color, and the result is a setting that is at times rather anonymous. The overall tone of the book is somewhat sad and bleak. Overall, an solid and interesting debut, but not anything that's going to blow you away.

Indridason has amassed quite a collection of credentials even before this, his English language debut, which is sure to bring him even more. This novel won The Glass Key Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the year when it was published. Very good, but nothing new - so have Henning Mankell, Peter Hoeg and Karin Fossum, among others. However, he also won the same award the following year, with the follow-up to this book, Lady in Green. It was not only the first time any author had ever won two years in a row, but also the first time any author had even won it twice, ever. Indridason also has the accolade of having had, during one week in April 2003, FIVE of his novels on the Icelandic Top Ten Bestseller Lists. He has also been compared to Henning Mankell - which, if true, is going to be very pleasing indeed.

It's not quite of the Mankell class, (then, what is), but Jar City (the title does become clear), is a very good crime novel indeed. It seems clear to me that, right now, the place to look for excellent crime fiction is Europe, for several reasons. One is simply the sense of freshness there is to it all, and the insight into other cultures. Another is the fact that almost all fiction from the continent (or Iceland!) is notably free of clichés of any sort; at least clichés that are held in the English crime writing world. Again, that's all true of this excellent novel, which centres around the investigation into the murder of an elderly man in his Reykjavik flat. He had almost no friends (one of them is in prison, the other disappeared 25 years ago), and he himself was accused of rape many years ago, though the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Although he was guilty. The only clues that the investigators find are a photograph of a young girl's grave, and a cryptic note left by the killer.

I enjoyed this book very much indeed, for many reasons. The plot is absolutely terrific, first of all. It's new, it moves nice and briskly (Indridason's excellent at moving the plot along), it's enigmatic and puzzling, and most of all there are sections of it that are very moving indeed. Jar City, as others have pointed out, is very sad at times, rather desolate and affecting. Which is a good thing, of course. It's also written excellently, with a very spare style - there's not a loose or unnecessary word. At times, coupled with the fact that it moves quickly (and is a pretty short book anyway), you may get the sense at times that the plot's a little underdeveloped in patches, but by the end this certainly isn't so. For such a slim, well-paced, sparely written novel, the plot becomes rather surprisingly, and satisfyingly complex (not, however, complicated - it never becomes convoluted, just important, and twisty.)

As I say, I enjoyed it tremendously and would recommend it to all crime fans, especially those that have already discovered the delights of European fiction, and Mankell in particular. It's excellent. Now I shall begin the wait for a second novel next year.

I really enjoyed this book - if you like Ed McBain, I think you will too. In fact, in many ways, it is better than Ed McBain whose characters are a little stereotyped for my liking.

The characters in this book are grounded in reality. They have arguments, emotions, they fall out with each other and apologise. They have love/hate relationships and occasionally they can see the funny side of things. They have personal problems and habits and they struggle with them. The setting is fascinating, being Iceland, and I learned a lot about genetics from reading this book and how Iceland is like a big genetic experiment because it is largely monocultural and has a small population.

The dialogue is crisp and easy to read and the plot moves at a good pace, always moving forward and developing. I strongly recommend it for a winter night's reading.